Like déjà vu, history repeats itself.
As an example of urbanity in speaking, I offer the June 1st, 2024 column by Jonathan Turley, published by The New York Post, and on his blog. It is urbane because it alludes to a matter of grave concern, while disdaining to exploit, or otherwise sensationalize the issue, by ad hominem innuendo. Turley leaves it to the astute reader to get his drift. By this tack he keeps me, and his other readers, returning for more.
The report by Jonathan Turley follows the conviction, by a Manhattan jury, of former President Donald Trump on Friday, May 31st (the day before Turley's report). That the conviction is the story of the day goes without saying. In his report (the next day), Turley expressed his profound misgivings about the propriety of the trial. It calls into question the integrity of the court.
In his Sunday, June 2nd, column, Turley notes another event of last Friday (the 31st of May), which might, otherwise, have gone unnoticed. Late last Friday, the Justice Department filed a statement of intent to withhold the audio tapes made by special counsel Robert Hur's in his interview with President Joe Biden -by reason of executive privilege.
Turley thus reports-on, and compares, two competing issues of great importance. While the Trump trial is the more dramatic issue, the mental competence of the sitting President of the United States is the more pressing issue. Given Turley's aptitude for urbanity, I must say it proves, ipso facto, my point (about Turley's urbanity). I, on the other hand, will be blunt: When did the Attorney General assume the role of Solicitor General for the Administration?
Turley's astute readers (such as I), are reminded by the Sunday column—the one reporting the Friday Justice Department filing—of Turley's Saturday column, which refers to the Founding Fathers' halting first steps in the impeachment of elected Federal officials, "for high crimes and misdemeanors." In that column, Turley specifically refers to the impeachment and trial of "James T. Callender, a muckraking writer critical of President John Adams."
We consider ourselves astute readers because we are induced—by Turley's historical note—to review the history of the Callender incident. What we discover is that the Callender impeachment was the third in the history of the United States. The sharp-eyed reader cannot fail to note the proximity, on the list, of the impeachment of John Pickering—the second impeachment trial—to that of James T. Callender. At that point we depart from Turley's summary, and commence drawing our own conclusions.
What we discover—with no prompting from Turley—is that John Pickering, is THE John Pickering, the one which was impeached by reason of insanity. Reading between the lines, it is impossible to dismiss the impression that this is the real matter to which Jonathan Turley tactfully alludes (by virtue of his urbanity). To get straight to the point, it refers-to the pressing matter of President Joe Biden's insanity, which the Justice Department seeks to cover-up, by withholding from Congress the audio tapes of Robert Hur's interview with President Joe Biden.
The various tributary sources of the Pickering impeachment make fascinating reading. Consider the corruption of Judge Pickering's unsuccessful attempt to overrule the impounding, by U.S. Customs, of the cargo ship Eliza, which was owned by a friend of Pickering. On the face of it, it seems like a petty complaint—a misdemeanor—but one which, nonetheless, served as predicate for Pickering's impeachment by Congress.
The only substantive debate by Congress seems to have been whether Pickering's insanity was caused by his alcoholism, or his alcoholism caused by his insanity. The debate settled on insanity, not alcoholism, as the cause of Pickering's abuse of office. In the end, all agreed he should be removed from office by reason of intemperance. It is the first impeachment—and removal from office—of a Federal official by Congress in the history of the United States.
As a curious side note, John Pickering was represented before Congress by his son, who humbly apologized for his father's absence, and admitted to his father's incompetence. It's hard not to draw parallels with President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, who may yet be called to testify before Congress in an impeachment trial of his father. Hunter Biden stands indicted of felony gun charges, specifically, of misrepresenting the truth on a Federal application for gun registration concerning illegal narcotic abuse.